Ski Trip
by Inikus
Summary: The gang take a trip in the French Alps. However, Keiko has been left behind in a flurry of snowflakes as she struggles to keep up. Will she find help in the form in the form of a redhaired demon?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, the French Alps, chapsticks or any other copywrited good I may have mentioned in this chapter. (Actually, I do own one chapstick, just not the rights to it).

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From afar, one would observe a stretch of white so pure that it gleamed, for miles on end, only cut across by the blue-grey shadows of the mountains. On a slope more populated by snugly-wrapped humans than any other, lay a young woman with chestnut coloured hair tucked under a blue knitted hat, an all-in-one navy ski suit and normally sensible, friendly brown eyes. At that precise moment, however, they were crinkled into a frown of frustration.

For the twentieth time since she had begun the ski course at the top of the slope, Keiko Yukimura pulled herself out of the snow to rest on her elbows, looking down forlornly at the tangle of legs and skis. She groaned, knowing that her ankles would yet again suffer from being hauled up into the air then slammed and twisted down in a more correct position. At first, the falls were nothing more than a slight bother, and Keiko told herself that she could learn from her mistakes and therefore become more adept. As time wore on, and more skiers flew past with ease as she struggled with the snow plough, Keiko had taken to removing the skis completely after a fall, and reaffixing them once standing up, sideways to the slope.

Tears of frustration and pointless anger started to cloud the girl's eyes. There was still a long way down to the bottom, to safety and a warm mug of hot chocolate, and it seemed to her to be getting progressively steeper.

Yukina and Botan had gone off ages ago, and Keiko silently cursed them for leaving her on her own, though she had insisted upon them going and enjoying themselves. She was only slowing them down. Yukina had been reluctant at first, but the cold was her element, and she seemed to be a little freer among the white. Keiko had watched while they quickly disappeared,making rhythmic zigzags down and away to the more advanced courses.

Keiko sighed to stave off a sob that was threatening to break. She had promised to meet everyone up at the restaurant at one o'clock. What time was it? She had taken her watch off for safety reasons, and it was now in her left thigh pocket. With a frustrated growl, Keiko twisted onto her right hip, and opened the zipper with a gloved hand. Her sense of touch was numbed by the layers of insulation, and several 'essential' items scattered onto the snow beside her as she withdrew her hand. A Chapstick rolled down the slope a little way, and Keiko watched it's passage solomnly, knowing it was useless to try and retrieve it in her position.

Glove off – don't mind the freezing cold that might just turn your hand into a shrivelled claw, Keiko told herself firmly. She had to do this sometimes when she couldn't be bothered to finish a school assignment, or didn't want to clean Yuusuke's house (Well if you don't, who knows what conditions he'll live in?). It was ten to one, she noted resignedly. There might be a chance that they would come to look for her when she didn't appear within twenty minutes, she thought as she stuffed back the contents of her pocket with a numb hand. Would Yuusuke even notice? He might do when he sees the lack of argument he gets when he decides to order his fifth pint of beer with his lunch, she thought bitterly. Kuwabara might, if Yukina took a toilet break. The girls would notice! Yes, they would come for her. Or Kurama. He'd probably be the first to notice.

The guy was an enigma to Keiko, human as she was. Killing without a second thought when provoked, yet still more caring than anyone else she knew. His strange ways led Keiko to believe him to be cold person, though extremely polite. Very confusing and altogether contradictory. Was it his human side effecting his emotions when he was sweet and sensitive? She would never ask him of course, they had never been close enough. Though Kurama's demeanour encouraged friendship, Keiko knew better than the average passer-by, and could not be comfortable around him.

Keiko's mind had wandered off, and she was startled when a shadow swept in front of her and stopped. Keiko looked up to a tall, slim figure shadowed by the sun behind him.

"Can I help you?" Asked a smooth voice with a hint of concern. "This is yours, isn't it?" something was held out to Keiko.

"Huh?" the brunette said intelligently, squinting and accepting what she felt to be the chapstick.

"Oh, hello there Keiko."

Keiko's eyes adjusted to the light, and she caught sight of a lock of fiery red hair.

"Kurama?"

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Hope you like. Sorry it's so short, butI wrote it on the spur of the moment in one of my free periods- Er... I mean _study_ periods. Had this idea kicking around for a while actually, and this is my favourite pairing. If you don't like them as a couple, please don't flame. 


	2. A Guiding Hand

Disclaimer: YYH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi, Shounen Jump and the guys at Funimation.

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**Ski Trip**

Chapter two; A Guiding Hand

Kurama chuckled at Keiko's dispense, noticing the humour in the mess she had managed to get herself into.

"Maybe you could help me up, instead of just standing around and laughing at me," Keiko said grumpily, feeling a little bit embarrassed and very vulnerable in her position on the snow.

"I'm sorry," Kurama quickly amended, and the humour obediently drained away from his face to leave the blank mask in place again. "Here, let me." He held out his leather-clad hand for Keiko. Even through the material of her glove, she could feel it's softness. 'From the Makai' Keiko judged quickly, from its texture and the fact that Kurama's hands weren't freezing off. Keiko found herself on her feet before she had much chance to think more upon his glove, and she swayed as her momentum nearly flung her down the mountain. Instead, she grabbed onto the first available surface; which just so happened to be Kurama's black zip-up jacket. She clung desperately to him until she felt herself being pried off.

"There you go." He smiled reassuringly.

"Thanks," Keiko mumbled, and busied herself by brushing down the back of her legs, which had been effectively frozen by the snow.

Keiko judged that Kurama would leave her alone now. She brushed off more snow until she thought he was effectively out of sight, so she could make a fool of herself with one less witness. She sighed and looked up, only to blink with surprise to find him still standing before her with a patient expression on his face. She blushed when she met his eyes, barely discernable through the sunglasses he wore.

"Oh, there's no need to wait," Keiko assured, and laughed tightly. "I'm perfectly capable of finding my own way down."

Kurama's expression did not change. "I insist Keiko. It would be a pleasure to accompany you, and are not we both heading to the restaurant over there?" He gestured to a building high up on the mountain slope facing them.

Keiko blushed again, realising that she may have sounded rude rather than capable. "Oh! Oh, all right then...I might slow you down, this is my first time," She said. Kurama waved it away 'that's not a problem'.

"Just follow me down, and you should be fine," He said calmly, and Keiko cringed at the faith in her abilities that she heard in his voice; a faith that she would shortly be invalidating.

So saying, he turned and started a slow, wide carving motion down the mountain for her to follow. taking her sticks in either hand with a tight grip, Keiko pushed off. The usual feeling associated with relying upon gravity and your thigh muscles to get you off the mountain in one piece returned to her. Then was the desperation she felt as the skis started widening, causing her to do the splits somewhat. She drew her legs together to avoid the painful position. No! She had pulled too far; the skis lay flat on the snow now, so there was no way to slow herself down. She shrieked ungracefully, and the panic caused her to lean back. The chill wind lashed at what portion of her face was exposed to the sun, and she caught sight of Kurama, who was still skiing down gracefully in peaceful oblivion to the small, human missile speeding towards

him.

five...

four...

three... Keiko shut her eyes,

two...

one...

impact! Houston, we have lift-off, Keiko thought numbly as she sailed through the air a good ten feet and landed sprawled in the path of another skier, who swerved just in time. She groaned, face still planted in the snow, as she remembered the look of horror that had passed over Kurama's face before the world had gone head-over heals. She hoped that she hadn't hurt him too much.

A pair of hands wound under Keiko's armpits and the world turned the right way up again as Keiko was lifted bodily upright. She could guess their owner.

"Are you alright? Nothing broken, strained?" inquired the soft voice. Keiko's hat and goggles had been knocked out of position by the collision, so she yanked them off her face in frustration. Her mouth was set in a hard line. She wasn't used to failing, even less to giving up after failing, and found this new feeling very depressing.

"I'm fine," She ground out.

"Here," Kurama held out a tissue to her, and she realised with a shock that tears were streaming out of her eyes. She let a sob out, more from embarrassment and annoyance at her lack of capability than sadness. Kurama seemed to realise this, as he simply laid a hand on her shoulder and waited for her to calm.

"It's bound to take you a while to learn, Keiko," He supplied. The hand started a circular motion on her tense muscles, and Keiko found herself relaxing into it.

"It's hopeless!" She said, even more embarrassed when her voice came out as a whiny blubber. The hand squeezed for a second before resuming its pattern.

"Don't say that Keiko. You may actually start to believe it."

She sniffed and shook her head. "Sorry. I didn't even ask if I hurt you."

Keiko caught her companion's wry smile through her tears. "I've taken worse blows than that." He glanced down the mountain to the ski lift. Still another five hundred feet or so. "Let's concentrate on getting you down the mountain. Just take it one step at a time. Or turn, if you like."

Keiko laughed at the small joke, and wiped away the last of her tears.

As soon as she had stowed the tissue away safely in her pocket, Kurama grabbed her elbow and turned her around, eliciting a yelp from the brunette. He stood behind her on his skis, and Keiko jumped in surprise when, within the same smooth motion, he slid one ski between hers.

"Just to be on the safe side. A lot of paths converge here, so there'll be more skiers to look out for," Kurama said as justification. Keiko nodded dumbly, and felt the heat rise in her cheeks as a strong arm wrapped around her waist. "Ready?"

"S-sure," Keiko stuttered.

"Relax, It will come more easily to you if you don't force the action. Let your body be driven, but not ruled, by gravity."

Kurama pushed off for a second time, and Keiko couldn't help but notice the feeling of security than overcame her; quite a different experience than the one she was used to. She could almost describe the sensation of skiing...pleasant. The turns came naturally, as her body swayed in time with the one pressed against her back.

"Lean on the lower ski, Keiko," He whispered into her ear, and the feeling sent a shiver down her spine that she was sure he would be able to feel. Her ski stick knocked his outer leg at a corner and she apologised absently, concentrating on his chest firmly pushed against her back, his thigh against hers. She had always thought that as he was slimmer, he would be physically weaker than Yuusuke, but her theory was apparently incorrect. Not that she would let Yuusuke hold her quite so close as Kurama was doing. 'I wonder why that is...'

"You're doing wonderfully," He murmured. "Never underestimate yourself, Keiko."

Keiko felt a strange and illogical delight in hearing her name on the kitsune's lips. "Thanks," she whispered back through a grin. It was as if the beauty of the moment would be broken if they raised their voices.

It hardly registered to her as the ground began to flatten out beneath her skis, and the line for the chairlift sped into view. She did notice when Kurama disentangled himself from her, as she glanced back, trying to hide her disappointment.

"You can do anything you set your mind to," He said as they joined the back of the queue.

Keiko turned and noticed him for the first time. Really _noticed_ him. Noticed his warm smile, and the way that the sun lit up his hair and picked out coppery highlights. The way that he stood up straight but not aloofly, and the way that all his attention was on her. She blushed, for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last half hour.

"Thanks," She repeated.

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Well, that's chapter two. Thanks to my reviewers for 1st chappie.

I have a vague idea of where this story is going, but if you want to add something, I'm always willing to hear it. Apart from, 'Stick it where the sun don't shine'. Cheers.

Sukini

XXX


	3. Signs of Doom

**Ski Trip**

Chapter Twp; Signs of Doom

"Here we go," Kurama held open the door for Keiko, letting her pass through first. "How's your leg?"

"Fine, thanks," Keiko replied, grimacing inside at the memory of the chairlift fiasco. She was just grateful that it had only been Kurama as a witness; anybody else would have taken great pleasure in spreading the story through their group within minutes. Well, with the exception of Yukina.

Keiko followed her red-headed guide through the restaurant. He seemed to know where to go, and all the foreigners were so tall, it was hard to see over their heads for Yuusuke and the others. Her boots made loud clacking noises on the ground as she walked, and Keiko wondered briefly how Kurama was hardly making a sound.

"Hey! Keiko! Fox-boy! Over here!" came a loud shout from ahead. Botan and Yuusuke had secured a table next to a large window, overlooking the resort. Kurama greeted them both warmly. "Kuwabara and Yukina went to get drinks. You'll have a vodka orange, right?" Yuusuke asked, turning to his girlfriend.

Keiko frowned. "Thanks for the thought Yuusuke, but you should know that I don't drink alcohol in the middle of the day," she answered, sliding along the wooden bench towards him.

"Oh." Yuusuke looked like he hadn't known or hadn't been listening when she had passed that information. "No matter. First time for everything, right?" He gave a grin that he knew Keiko found hard to resist. "Oh yeah, and I got you a pint, Kurama." He turned to the redhead across from him.

"Thank you." Was the polite reply, though Keiko didn't suppose he was really a lager sort of guy.

"So Keiko!" Said girl turned to the blue haired deity opposite her. "How did the skiing go?" Keiko noticed with a degree of annoyance that the ferry girl looked not the slightest bit guilty for abandoning her.

"Fine," she said, rather abruptly. Botan's perpetual smile faltered. "I think I've got the hang of it now, anyway," she amended.

"Great!" The smile was back. "You can come down with Yukina and me, now!" She giggled. Keiko smiled weakly and turned to face away from Kurama, who was the only one who knew the extent of her incompetence, and whose eyes she could feel studying her.

Kuwabara retuned, keeping one large hand on Yukina's shoulder and the other under the drinks tray.

"Hey Kurama!" He sloshed the drinks over slightly in his hurry to get back to the table. It was strange; he didn't look like such a giant surrounded by the westerners. "I've seen you tearing up the slopes!" He said with a grin. Kurama replied with a smile.

"Snowboards are faster, however good you are," Yuusuke interjected with a proud puffing out of his chest. "You might have missed me passing you; I'm too fast for human eyes to follow," he told Keiko, who rolled her eyes.

"Sure, Yuusuke." She wasn't quite sure if it was true or not. If you had told her four years ago that there were such things as demons, she would have laughed in your face. Her answer fitted though, she didn't want to inflate his ego unnecessarily.

Yuusuke got louder and louder as the lunch progressed. The atmosphere around the little mountain restaurant became ever gloomier.

"Maybe we should go now," Keiko said, talking for the first time. The rest of lunch, she had been lost in thought and general exhaustion. Gentle snowflakes fell as she looked through the window to the slopes. People all around them seemed to be leaving too. She glanced back at the table to await Yuusuke's reaction, as he seemed always to take charge in these situations. He was laughing raucously at some lame joke that Kuwabara had made. 'If only Hiei were here, we wouldn't have to put up with that kind of thing...no-one else is going to tell Kuwabara to shut up,' Keiko thought wistfully. Her annoyance had gathered in a ball inside her at being ignored. Frowning, she found her eyes drawn to Kurama's, who was bestowing a thoughtful expression upon her. She hastened to lighten her expression; so far he had not done anything to annoy her.

"Keiko is right." Kurama began. His clear voice carried over the tables occupants, and silence reigned. 'Oh, sure, they listen to him'. "I cannot foresee the weather improving. In fact, it is becoming worse the longer we stay."

Everyone looked out of the window, where the light flakes had already become heavy, large crystals.

"Oh! Isn't it beautiful!" Yukina exclaimed, to which Kuwabara instantly agreed.

"Should be a challenge," Yuusuke put in, a grin shaping his lips. "Hey, Kuwabara! I bet you can't take on the Ice Bank in this!" Kuwabara blanched, and clenched his jaw.

"I can too! Just watch me feed you your own words, Urameshi!"

"Oh! The Ice bank! Yukina and I were going to do that, too. We heard it was one of the most advanced ski slopes in Europe! We can go together!"

"Let's all go," Yukina said, joy at going out into the snow again apparent in her voice. Keiko felt her stomach fall into the vicinity of her knees at the idea.

"How about you, Keiko?" Keiko turned to look into Kurama's green eyes. If he knew about her fear, which he probably did, he was hiding it very well form the others.

"Oh, um...Of course, I'll go with you- with all of you," She replied, blushing slightly at her slip and eagerness to correct herself. 'I'm not going to be left behind again'.

Kurama nodded slowly at her decision. 'He thinks that I think that I'm good enough, and he thinks that I'm not! Oh, God, I really don't!' Keiko's thoughts were in a slight jumble by that time.

"Let's go!" Botan cried enthusiastically.

"Yeah...let's go..." Keiko added her voice to the others'.

The cold wind hit the group like a slap in the face as they ventured onto the slopes. Keiko fitted the skis to her boots with a large feeling of dread. 'They're not coming off till the bottom...'

Yukina pushed off first on her skis, not travelling too fast, but looking in her element nonetheless. As Yuusuke and Kuwabara had started kicking off to the 'Ice Bank' with one foot on their snowboards to cross the flatter land, Keiko took a deep breath and readied herself for whatever was ahead.

There was something attached to her arm, which she shook of distractedly.

"Keiko." She jumped. She had forgotten that _he_ was still behind her.

"What?" She answered rather snappishly; the others were disappearing out of sight into the white oblivion.

"You don't have to go down the Ice Bank. There are easier ways down."

"You're the one who told me not to underestimate myself!" Keiko retorted, the panic making her act slightly wildly.

She couldn't make out Kurama's eyes through his reflective glasses, but she could tell they were observing her intently. As always.

"Really, Keiko. I wouldn't recommend that particular slope for a beginner." His voice held finality. "If you want to take an easier slope, I'll accompany you."

'Oh, how chivalric of you, Kurama' Keiko though sarcastically. 'Now I have to go down the Ice Bank just to prove you wrong...and I don't want to owe you anything.'  
"No, I want to do this. Please, let me do this," Keiko said, her voice also final. Kurama released her sleeve and gave a short nod, his brows creased under the glasses.

"As you wish." 'It's your funeral...' were the unspoken words.

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I'm so sorry to everyone who is reading this who is also waiting (I flatter myself) for updates of Harry Potter and the Demon...I've had so much work at the moment that updating has been impossible. I promise to get the next chapter up asap.

I was going to make this chapter longer, but as I said, I'm swaped with work at the moment. There will be ACTION! not just lovey-dovey romantic stuff...well, if my writing is up to it...

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.


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